1. Field Of The Invention
The present invention relates generally to an improved refuse collection system, and more particularly, to an improved refuse container loading assembly and a multi-bin refuse truck provided therewith.
2. Description Of The Prior Art
The prior art is illustrated generally by the following three U.S. Patents. U.S. Pat. No. 4,313,707 issued on Feb. 2, 1982 to John W. Bingham, the present inventor, for a "Side-Loading Apparatus For A Trash Collection System". This patent discloses a trash collection apparatus for mounting a in a fixed position on the side of the collection refuse truck. A frame member is extendable secured to the vehicle for movement away from and toward the truck body or bed of the vehicle. A pair of vertically extending guide rails are secured to the frame. Each guide rail incorporates a top section that is pivoted about a horizontal axis. A carriage is mounted for movement along the guide rails and incorporates a pair of gripping arms which are pivoted for movement in a horizontal plane to grasp a trash container, and the gripping arms are also pivoted for movement in vertical planes for moving to a stowage position. A hydraulic piston and cylinder are utilized to raise the carriage along the guide rails to position the carriage on the top section of the rails. Hydraulic actuators are provided for tilting the top sections of the rails when the carriage is positioned on the top sections to tip the carriage, gripping arms, and the trash container over the side of the truck for emptying the contents of the trash container into the bed or a loading station of the trash collection vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,057,156 issued on Nov. 8, 1977 to Vern C. Thompson and John A. Riggle for a "Lifting Arm Apparatus". The patent discloses a side-loading apparatus for facilitating the use of the system along relatively narrow aisles or alleys. It requires no manipulation of the container by the human operator, nor any preliminary dumping of material into a container permanently carried by the vehicle. Inversion of the container does not begin until it has been lifted beside the vehicle to an appropriate height adjacent an opening in the bed of the vehicle, thus avoiding spillage. The container is lifted from and replaced at a location automatically and gently, using pneumatic engagement which involves minimum damage to refuse containers. All other operations are hydraulic, and are under the operator's regular and emergency control at all times.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,597,710 issued on July 1, 1986 to Lawrence H. G. Kovats for a "Trash Collection Vehicle Side-Loading Apparatus". The invention of this patent is primarily directed to an improved rail construction and also to an improved means for orienting the carriage during its return to ground. One aspect of the invention is concerned with one of the guide rails on one side of the frame being straight whereas the other guide rail on the same side of the track incorporates the curved and horizontal top section. A carriage is mounted on rollers with an upper roller and a lower roller being provided on each side of the carriage. The lower roller always remains in the straight rail whereas the upper roller rides in the rail having the curved and horizontal sections at its upper end. The carriage is made to ascend and descend along the guide rails by means of a hydraulic piston-driven chain arrangement and with means to control carriage speed at various stages of ascent and descent. The refuse container is held on the carriage by means of a pair of jaws which are hydraulic actuated. A spring-loaded stop and over-travel arrangement is provided at the top of the vertical rails to assure the correct orientation of the carriage on the rails when returned to the ground position.
While these patents did represent a step forward in the prior art, they did not solve many of the problems inherent therein, and they introduced still additional problems not heretofore encountered. One major problem still existing in the prior art is that the time required to reach out and pick-up a refuse container to be emptied, retract the container toward the side of the truck, raise the container, dump the contents thereof into the refuse collection vehicle and then lower and return the emptied refuse container to its position a predetermined distance away from the side of the truck, takes far to long and adds greatly to the cost of refuse pick-up and removal.
Furthermore, the emptying efficiency of the prior art systems is relatively poor, and supposedly emptied refuse containers often retain various types and amounts of refuse therein after they have been replaced and released at the particular pick-up site. Still further, the entire process is not automated and certainly not optimized by feedback means which controls the speed, acceleration and deceleration of the cycle. Still further, most of the systems illustrated above involve many mechanical parts and are not relatively simple and maintenance free thereby causing frequent breakdown of the system and further delays in the refuse collection routine.
Furthermore, none of the prior art shows the use of a multi-bin refuse collection vehicle wherein each of the bins is adapted or designated to receive only one particular type of refuse such as glass, paper, aluminum cans, plastics, other metals, trash, garbage, and the like, or only one predetermined mix of such types. In the present system, the individual refuse containers to be picked-up and emptied include indicia means on each of the refuse containers to be emptied, and the indicia means is either visually identifiable by the operator or machine-readable by apparatus in the system for bin selection purposes. The economic value of being able to quickly and easily separate the refuse into different types is quite significant and could possibly pay for the cost of garbage, trash, or refuse removal in and of itself. Furthermore, in this day of environmental awareness, as refuse sites, incinerators, and the like are coming under fire for environmental defficiencies, the environmental impact of such a system is very, very significant. None of the vehicles of the prior art teach a vertical rail system which can be positionably horizontally or longitudinally along the side of the truck for bin selection purposes and/or for pick-up and releasing the containers at a particular position adjacent the side of the truck.
The present invention provides a solution to many of the previously unsolved problems of the prior art as well as providing a unique, totally new multi-bin refuse truck and refuse collection loading system therefore which has both great environmental and significant economic value.